Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by the guest blogger and those providing comments are theirs alone and do not reflect the opinions of the Sunlight Foundation or any employee thereof. Sunlight Foundation is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information within the guest blog.

Jackson Stephen is the founder of OpenBama — a nonpartisan website that compiles data from various sources pertaining to Alabama State government into an easy to use tool. OpenBama desires to inspire the citizens of Alabama to demand more transparency within state and local government. Jackson is also organizing the first TransparencyCamp in Alabama. He can be reached at jackson.stephen.r@gmail.com.

Around 2008 I began the work on what would become OpenBama.org. At the time I started the project, I had never heard of the Sunlight Foundation, open government, or any of the wonderful transparency projects across the country. I was one guy with a computer and an idea to make Alabama legislative data meaningful to the citizens of my state. Little did I know that there was an entire community of individuals working on similar transparency projects across the country, individuals like myself that desired to take government information to the people.

In the following years I began to learn more about the open government community and in particular the Sunlight Foundation. In 2011 and 2012, I attended Sunlight Foundation’s TransparencyCamp. I met many wonderful open government advocates from across the country and world. As I attended the sessions, I remember feeling inspired to continue the work of transparency in my own home state.

Because of OpenBama, I have been fortunate enough to meet some wonderful people across the state that are passionate about transparency. Many of these working in isolation and not aware of each other. This is why I was inspired to organize a TransparencyCamp in my own state of Alabama. My hope is that others will be inspired and encouraged to continue their work to help bring greater transparency to state government.

The first annual TransparencyCamp Bama will be held on November 2nd in Montgomery, the state’s capital. The state bird of Alabama is the Yellowhammer. According to Wikipedia, the Yellowhammer likes “open areas.” This is a great symbol for transparency in Alabama government.